Judge — October 1, 1898 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Judge magazine cartoon satirizes American business interests waiting at a Spanish/Cuban port (visible signage shows "Spanish," "Cuba," "Porto Rico," "Enterprise"). A well-dressed capitalist sits atop a large moneybag marked "CAPITAL," smoking a cigar while waiting at what appears to be a colonial enterprise. The cartoon likely critiques American capitalist expansion into Spanish colonies during the late 1890s—presumably referencing the Spanish-American War period (1898) and U.S. imperial ambitions in Cuba and Puerto Rico. The joke's title "Waiting for the Fat" suggests capitalists eagerly anticipating profitable colonial ventures. The cartoon mocks how American business interests were poised to exploit newly-acquired or soon-to-be-acquired territories, treating colonialism as a commercial opportunity rather than a political/moral issue.